My Travel Plans For The Next Few Months!
Even though I tend to be the type of traveler who doesn’t plan much in advance, this year is looking a bit different. The following months are filled with weddings, a few festivals I want to hit up, and even a press trip, so I’ve managed to map out what the rest of 2019 and the first few months of 2020 will look like for me!
And seriously, it’s exciting as hell! I love visiting destinations I know and love, but the following months will involve visiting a hell of a lot of new places, too!
Remainder of June: Curacao + Mexico City
The Caribbean is a region of the world that I’ve sorely neglected for years. Even though I’ve been to the Bahamas on a cruise when I was younger (does that even count as being in a country?), plus a few short trips through Belize, Cuba, and Caribbean Mexico, I’m super excited to be making it to one of the southern islands.
I’d be lying if I were to say that I’m not incredibly nervous about this trip – not because Curacao is an unsafe destination, but more due to the fact that this will be my first press trip ever! You guys may or may not know this already, but I currently work for my friend Marissa over at Darling Escapes – I help her out with Instagram, scheduling, Pinterest marketing, and other random things that pop up here and there, and since she can’t make it to the trip herself, she suggested I go instead.
Talk about getting out of my comfort zone! I tend to travel independently and other than a few short trips I’ve organized with friends or my boyfriend, I’m not really used to group travel. And more than that, I’m an incredibly awkward human, so the thought of just popping by and introducing myself in front of a bunch of kickass influencers has me feeling a bit nervous. I’ve decided that if things are going really awfully, I’ll just pretend I don’t speak English. That will work, right?
Before Curacao, I’ll be staying for two weeks with my mom near Mexico City. I’m excited to go back to my hermit ways for a bit and spend days in my pajamas and working like crazy! I have a ton of flights to book, a whole lot of food to eat in the destinations I’ll be visiting throughout the year, and visas to apply for, too – none of that is cheap, so be focusing on getting my bank balance back to a healthy level in June.
Aside from visiting a few embassies in Mexico City, I’ll also be doing all of those adulting things – like going to the doctor, making a dentist appointment, and drinking lots of wine with my aunts!
The Mayan Riviera
The Mayan Riviera is always an exciting destination to visit and even though I’ve traveled it quite extensively, there are still many places I haven’t visited! This trip will be all about visiting some of my favorite destinations in the Mexican Caribbean as well as ticking off a few places I’ve neglected in the past.
I can’t wait to swim in the turquoise waters of Holbox again!
After two weeks of backpacking The Yucatan, I’m toying with the idea of returning to Oaxaca City (where I’m currently writing this post from). There’s this festival that I’ve always dreamed of visiting called La Guelaguetza and I might take up the chance to finally attend it! Think Oaxacan Chinas dancing around wearing colorful dresses, a myriad of food stalls scattered all over the city, and never-ending celebrations taking place all over July!
August: A Quiet German Summer
After eight months of almost non-stop travel, I’m excited to take a little break from airports and train stations. Vincent’s cousin in getting married in a castle in Germany and I’ll be making it to Düsseldorf a few weeks before the wedding. I’m hoping to make the most out of the weather – on the plans are swimming, drinking by the Rhine River, working every day, and um… lots of much-needed Netflix time!
September: ???
September is still a blank map, but my ideas are endless! My boyfriend and I had plans to travel South America this year, and since that didn’t quite go to plan (we might do it next year, though!), we might do a shorter trip somewhere else instead. We’ve since toyed with the idea of going EVERYWHERE. When I was in Borneo, I suggested we go there together, and then we decided a trip to Italy would be easier on our wallet. We then thought of heading over to Senegal and our last conversation involved Kenya and Tanzania.
So, um… yeah. No idea what’s going on here! We’ll make a decision eventually.
October: Southern Africa
And back to Africa! I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this continent. Two years back, I backpacked through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi and I fell hard for each and every quirk of them all, so I’m incredibly excited to explore a new region of this massive continent. In the plans are South Africa, Namibia, and ESwatini.
This time around, I’ll be traveling with a blogger friend, Isabel from Bel Around The World. It’s always fun to visit places with like-minded people who don’t get uber annoyed at you taking ten pictures every few steps.
November: Back to Mexico
2019 is the year of cousins getting married, it seems. On November 2nd, we’ll be attending another wedding, but this time in Mexico! It’s actually kinda funny because my cousin is marrying a German guy who is from a town very close to my boyfriend’s! Yay for intercultural relationships.
Is it me or is dating/marrying people from the other side of the world becoming more and more common lately? It definitely has to do with the internet being a thing and the fact that more people are traveling these days. I’m convinced that cross-cultural relationships are what will finally unite the world.
After the wedding, I’m hoping to plan a trip through a few destinations in Mexico that I haven’t yet visited – maybe Cabos?
December – January: Who knows?
I might just stay in Mexico from November up until the end of the year or perhaps fly back to Germany to spend Christmas with my boyfriend. December and January are still a bit of a blur at the moment, but I like not having everything 100% planned out!
February + March 2020: Back to Africa… this time, we’re going west!
Photo by Rita Willaert via Flickr.
This is one of my travel plans that gets me the most excited! I love visiting destinations that aren’t necessarily on the usual radar and I’ve been dreaming of backpacking West Africa since 2015. There’s this incredible mask festival in Burkina Faso that takes place on February every two years and I’m over the moon to finally be making it there! I have a slightly weird i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶e̶s̶t obsession with Bwa masks, and for years, I’ve been fighting back the urge to buy one just because I always dreamt of getting it myself right after visiting this festival!
Since I’ll be in the neighborhood, I’m taking up the chance to visit other nearby countries like Cote D’Ivoire and maybe Benin, too! And because I’m a total weirdo, I’ll be sure to hit up Togo’s fetish voodoo market as well!
I know, I know.
I’m probably the world’s worst vegetarian.
Needless to say, I can’t wait for 2020 to kick in! I’m curious to see what solo female travel is like in that area of the world – I have a feeling this will be one of my best trips yet!
And that’s what the next few months will look like for me! Do you have any exciting travel plans coming up?
